Thong Thai

Hoi tod – the fried-to-a-crisp seafood pancake – is the dish that most people stop to watch being made in the window of this two-year-old Bourke Street restaurant. A chef deftly moves planks of rice flour batter through hot oil, cooking until a golden crunch is achieved without destroying the tender mussels or scallops within.

Saucy, salty pork mince is tossed with delicate clouds of egg tofu in tao hu moo sub, served with snowy-white rice porridge. A silver pot is brought to your table with a clay chimney underneath to keep the herb-flecked soup leng zaap bubbling away.

Pork spine bones poke out of the broth like a teepee, their meat as tender as an oxtail ragu. Lime, galangal and fermented shrimp colour the air with regularity, making you want to keep ordering more, even if your table’s already covered in food.

Must-order: Leng zaap, a built-to-share soup fragrant with makrut lime and starring fork-tender pork spine.

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